Metal mine tie



mun

J. J. ROSS METAL MINE TIE Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

UNITED STATES J'US'IUS J. ROSS, OF HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

METAL MINE TIE.

Application tiled Maro11'19, 1924. Serial No. 700,351.

To @ZZ/,whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JUsTUs J. Ross, a citizen of United States, residingat Huntington, in the county of Cabell and State of `West Virginia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inL Metal Mine Ties, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to metal ties which are particularly adapted formotor haulage in mines, and one of the objects of the invention is toprovide a tie of this character which is extremely simple inconstruction and inexpensive in manufacture, and yet which is highlyefficient in supporting and securing rails of various weights and sizes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metallic tie equippedwith an extremely. simple device which can be instantly operated tosecurely grip rails of various sizes, or rails which are worn or rustedaway, and which is so constructed that the gauge will remain the samethough rails of different size are employed.

A. further object of the invention is to provide a tie embodying theabove and other features, and in addition thereto is so constructed thatit will be securely anchored to the ground, or mine licor, in suchmanner that longitudinal or lateral movement of the tie will beprevented.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent` fromthe following detailed description, when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings; in which,

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of one end of thetie.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the tie; a portion of the rail cap beingbroken away.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of one end of thetie, showing clamped in position a rail of smaller size than thatillustrated in Figurel: and

Figure Lt is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a complete tie.

Referring to the drawings more in detail, numeral l indicates the bodyof the tie which has a flat top surface and downturned side flange 2;that is, the body of the tie in cross-section, has the shape of ordinarychannel iron. The flanges 2 strengthen the tie and in addition theyfunction as an anchoring means to prevent lateral movement of the ties.As a further anchoring means, particularly for preventing longitudinalmovement of the tie., I provide short sections of channel steel or ironpositioned between the flanges Q'and riveted to the top of the tie; theanchoring channels being indicated by numeral 3. The channels 3 are ofsufficient length to extend the full distance between the downturnedflanges 2, 2, of the tie so that there is no possibility of theanchoring means becoming displaced from its position as shown in thedrawings, for if there should be only one rivet employed, the flanges 2,2, would prevent the rotation of the anchoring channel 3. It is to benoted that the Idownturned flanges 4, 4 of the anchoring channel 3extends below the lower edges of theI downturned flanges 2, 2, so it isapparent that all of the flanges will cut into the ground or mine floorand thus prevent n'iovement of the tie in any direction. They anchoringchannels are positioned on the tie directly below the rails, so that theweight of the rails will tend to force them in the ground; and furtherthey strengthen those particular portions oit' the tie which directlysupport the rails. e Numeral 5 indicates a clamping lug which has a flatportion 6 coinciding with the flat surface of the tie, and an upwardlyinclined portion 7 for engaging the flange of therail or the web of therail as the case may be, depending on the size of rail employed. Theclamping Vlug is provided with strengthening side flanges S, and the lugis preferably secured to the tie by means of rivets. rIlhe peculiardesign of this clamping lug` and its novel manner of functioning tosecure rails of various sizes without varying the gauge, will now bedescribed.

In Figure l is shown in vertical section a relatively large rail clampedin position and a small rail in dotted outline; in Figure 2 is shown aplan view of a relatively large rail in clamped position; and in Figure3 is shown in vertical section a small rail in Aclamped position.` Byreference to these figures. in connection with the following I briefdescription, the design and operation of the clamping lugs will beclearly understood. l

The conventional rail consists of the head, welo, and flange, indicatedrespectively by the numerals 9, 10, and l1, for the larger rail; and 9',10', and 11', for the smaller rail. The clamping lug 5 is so designedthat when it is employed in'connection with the if the inclined portion7 of lug 6 was so designed that it was much shorter than illustratedherein, then when a small rail was used, its flange would rbe-forcedunder the -V lug until it contacted with the inclined porinclined member7 tion at the point where the lug meets the surface ofl the tie, andconsequently there wouldv be considerable variation in the gauge. As'-clearly illustrated in Figure 3, however, the clamping lug is not sodesigned, and by an inspection of that Figure it will be seen that whenasmall ail is employed the web 10 abuts against the free end of the y Bythis construction the vertical center line ofthe rail is moved onlyslightly for different size rails, and this difference yin position justabout coinpensates for the difference in the width of the heads ofdifferent rails. so that the gauge remains almostfexactly the same. Ihave described,A the lug in connection with large rails and vsmallrails, and vit will be understood that rails of intermediate'sizes willassume intermediate positions; the gauge remaining almost identicallythe same for all sizesof rails.l V y The cam wedge, indicated generallyby niuneral 12, which is employed to engage the rail, forces it intoengagement with the clamping lugy and securelylo'cks the rail inposition, will now bedescribed. The cam wedge 12.is preferably of ageneral semi-circular shape, and has a flat central portion 13 restingonthe flat surface of the tie; the cam Wedge being lpivotally Iattachedto the tie by meansof a loose rivet 14, or by equivalent means. v` Asclearly shown in the drawings, thev cam ,wedge is eccentrically mountedon the rivet 14.

Extending upwardly and outwardly from :the flat: portion 13 is agripping flange 15. This flange is shapedto fit the contour of the railflange," and the Ipeculiar shape Aof the gripping flange will beapparentfrom an inspectionof Figure 1. The flange, as shownA at the leftof Figure 1 is of greater length.y and is spaced farther fromthe surfaceofthe tie than is the case with the flange shown on the right of Figurel1.y The flange von the left of yFigure 1 designed to conform to thecontour of the flange ofthe largest rail to be employed,'and the flangeon therightof' Figure 1 is designed to .con-

-formv torthecon,tour of the fiauge'of the smallest-rail to be employed.The length of.

the flangel. andthe distanceit is-'s iaced t, c t l Ifrom the vtie'surface, are gradually 4decreased from the maximum shown on the left ofFigure 1, to the minimum shown on theright of Figure 1; and, of course,intermediate portions of the gripping flange correspond with the contourof intermediate size rails.

It will be noted that the gripping flange of lthe cani wedge is designedto contact with` the rail flange and with the rail web, for all sizes ofrails, kso that it will force the rail into engagement with the clampinglug and hold the rail in a rigid and unyielding manner. f

The curvature of the edgeof the flat portion 13,*that is, the curvatureof 'the edge of the cani which engages the edge of the rail flange, ison a'gradually increasing curvature from the left of Figure 1 to theright of .Figure 1, to provide for engagement with the edges of railflanges olf various widths; and the curvature of the outer edge of thecam wedge is Vsuch that the distance between this edge andthe edge ofthe flat portion of the cam gradually decreases from the left/to rightof Figure 1 to take care of the more narrow rail flanges ot the smallerrails. As previously mentioned herein, the cam wedge is eccentricallymounted on the rivet 141. v i

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the cam wedge is aninexpensive and highly eliicient device for quickly and firmly clampingrails of various sizes; it being only necessary to strike thesemi-circular cam'with a hammer o r other tool to roy tate it intoclamping position on yany size rail. J1nd when this camwedge is employed`in'conjunction with the particular clamping lug described herein, itwill be apparent that rails of various sizes may be used withl outvarying the gauge. l.

In accordance `with the patent statutes, I have described what l nowbelieve to be the best embodiment of the inventiombut I do not wish toybe understood thereby as 'limit'- ing myself or the scope of theinvention,` as many changes and `modifications' may be madewithoutvdeparting from the spirit of the invention; all such I aim toinclude in the scope of' the appended claims:

Having fully .described the invention, what :[claim as new and desire tovsecure by 'Letters Patent is: v Y Y 1. A metallic cross tie, a fixedclamping lug tor engaging one side of the rail lla-nge,

lll)

a rotatable cam wedge of segmental shape lferent size, and a cam wedgefor forcing the rail into: engagement with the clamping lug,

,various sizes ofvvrails, and. provided with said cam Wedge adapted t0engage both the rail flange and the rail Web of rails of varous sizes. Y

3. A cross tie formed of channel steel, anchoring means provided on thetie, said anchoring means located substantially directly below the rail,a clamping lug, said clamping lug adapted to maintain substantally thesame gauge with rails of different size, a cam Wedge for engaging theother side of the rail and forcing the rail into engagement with theclamping lug, said cam Wedge adapted to conform to the contour of therail flange of rails of various Sizes.

JUSTUS J. ROSS.

